Albert Boadella

Albert Boadella

Albert Boadella (born July 10, 1943 in Barcelona , Spain ) is the founder and director of the Catalan theater group Els Joglars .

Based on the classic pantomime, this group has developed its own aesthetic since 1962. Boadella is the only one who has been with us since the beginning. In addition to his work as a director, he gives courses at the Institut de Teatre Barcelona. He has written numerous plays, films and television series and mostly directs them in collaboration with his theater group. Since 1973, after starting in Barcelona, ​​the group has been working in Pruit near Vic . Boadella is one of the greatest critics of the Catalan nationalism movement and is often referred to by his opponents as "bufón" ("fool"), an abuse that he now takes as an award.

The group began in 1962 as a theater group of the Spanish Teatro Independiente, but soon developed into a nationally and internationally sought-after company and thus survived the end of the Francoist regime, while most of the other groups dissolved.

In 1977 he had to flee into exile in France because the play La Torna about Heinz Chez / Georg Michael Welzel had caused displeasure among the military. Four members of his group were sentenced to two years in prison. In the next few years the group was completely restructured and since the mid-1980s Boadella has been working again with a permanent cast of actors.

In 1999 he and his group were awarded the Medalla de Oro de Bellas Artes , the highest art award in Spain.

Boadella played the role of "Paco" in the Spanish language course "Hablamos Espanol" (39 episodes) produced in 1971. This language course was broadcast on the Alpha channel in 2016/2017.

Web links and sources

• Albert Boadella (Spanish): Memorias de un Bufón. Espasa Calpe, Madrid 2001 (autobiography)
• Homepage of Els Joglars (Catalan / Spanish / English)
• Information about the pieces on Cervantes-Virtual with numerous pictures (Spanish)